SPEAKING OFF-THE-CUFF

Mike Molina was Acting President as well as Toastmaster. This is just proof that Toastmasters teaches us hands-on how to juggle different responsibilities and wear different hats. Mike did a superb job as both.

The first speaker was Jerry Bailey and his speech was from the advanced manual project “Speak Off the Cuff”. The title: “Jerry’s Views of things”. Jerry’s views were on the U.S. Presidential elections which reminded him of Charles Dickens’ opening of A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Being the ever optimist, he was able to convey that although things may not look so good the U.S. is resilient and the current state of affairs have happened before in history and here we are. To understand the dynamic of the elections we need to view things from a global context and considering that, for the most part, the Republican party is radical.

Germany and refugee crisis – Germany can benefit from influx of Syrians who are young and educated while Germany has a declining birth rate

Relations with China

Obama’s agreement with Iran

The Trump factor

Russia/Syria

The second speaker was Tu Duong who presented his eighth speech entitled, “Seeing is Believing”. Tu showed the audience through a series of pictures that what is true for one person is not true for another. He went on to say that “there is no absolute truth, there is only your perception of truth”. Each person has a different experience therefore the perception of truth will be different for each person depending on their circumstance. We don’t need to agree with each other but we do need to recognize where each person is coming from.

Table Topics was led by Jim Hartnett. These were the responses:

Ghislaine Demombynes did not tell us about herself. She commented on Tu’s speech and how we are subject to perception, not absolute truth. We must have a fresh look on things.

Nick Zwemer completed “I am” by telling us he is working on a Facebook page for Miracle Mile Toastmasters and also a Facebook page for family sustainable culture.

Chris Nolte told us a story about himself. He said the reason he is here is that he thrives in these meetings and just loves to see so many guests. He also likes that he is able to manipulate, in a positive sense, through his speeches.

Chris Wolfe told us what he wanted us to know about him. He said life is short so we need to make a difference. His 4 year old son passed on at such an early time and as a consequence he had a burning desire to serve others. He founded a speaking club in prison for men to help them transform their lives as they transition out of prison.

George Cardenas told us about how he was born and raised in Miami and how he loves the ocean. He was born in the perfect place because he gets to enjoy so many water activities.

Mike Molina told us how something funny happened to him on his way to the meeting. On his way to the meeting a friend called and Mike decided to answer thinking it would be a short call. What he thought would be short turned out to be lengthy. It’s funny that the thought of being late for Toastmasters made the call even longer than what it seemed.

The winners:

1st place: Chris Wolfe

2nd place: Chris Nolte

3rd place: George Cardenas

Leisha John evaluated John Bailey’s speech. She indicated that Jerry established his credibility early on and that he definitely is a great speaker with excellent eye contact. Suggestions: He drifted a bit and could have been louder. He had a great closing.

Chris Wolfe evaluated Tu Duong’s speech. Chris pointed out that Tu was comfortable with visual aids. His opening was good, he had 3 visual aids. In the body he used gesture and good voice but a little too fast. Improvement: lack of repetition of the message being conveyed and weak closing, closed a little too fast. Overall, it was a good speech.

We welcomed our guests and hope they come back soon.

Our guests were Kristin Hebert, Leeza Ovalle, Brian McMahon, Samuel Maya, Alexandra Bellon, and Paul Massad. We welcome you and hope to see you again on the 15th!